Insert Catchy Saying Here

31 Nights In Quartzsite, AZ – Too Damn Long!

Considering I never intended on coming to Quartzsite this year, my stay in the area was too damn long. 31 nights. A FULL FREAKING MONTH! What. Was. I. Thinking?

Attending the New Years celebration about 20 miles south of Quartzsite (or just “Q” as it’s known in RVing circles) was literally a last minute decision, so ending up staying in the area for a month was odd. But it happened. Not that I’m proud of it. But it definitely happened.

For those of you who don’t know (and be thankful if you don’t!), Q is a mecca for RVing snowbirds in the wintertime. There are literally tens of thousands of RVs that occupy the surrounding public lands. Something like 100,000 rigs make an appearance. And most are occupied by the retired.

Not that I have anything against those of the retired age. Except they aren’t my crowd. Seriously. Not the people that I chose to hang with. Again, not because there is anything wrong with them. Just that we don’t have much in common.

For example, even though we are all RVers, I live differently. I don’t chose to go park in Q for months at a time to be surrounded by my friends and thousands of strangers. I work on the road. I don’t just pass the time. Etc, etc, etc.

So being “stuck” in Q for a month is enough to make anyone resembling young in age to go insane. Hell, it usually only takes me one trip into town to reach that point.

I don’t know what it is with Quartzsite, but it sucks the life out of me. Yet I stayed here for 31 nights. Mainly so I could attend the Xscapers 2nd (annual?) Quartzsite Convergence. Something I attended last year on a couple of occasions when I was staying with my group of friends, but I didn’t camp onsite. So this year I changed that.

After spending around 3 weeks at my New Years location, I moved about 20 miles north, closer to the madness that surrounds Q. Hell, I was smack dab in the madness, camped in a group of 60+ Xscaper rigs. Packed in a lot tighter than I usually like (but still better than the average RV park).

Taking a lot of pics at the Xscapers Convergence didn’t happen:

Mandy, mimosa and her calendar.

What might look like a lot of room to some is packed in to me.

I truly wasn’t that social. By the time I arrived I was done socializing since I’d been at it since late December. Yes, this is indeed a long time for an introvert.

I attended some social events with the Xscapers, but I didn’t go out of my way to meet new people. Let’s face reality – it’s really hard to meet everyone in such a large group, so I didn’t try. And I’m very fine with this.

I did meet some additional solo travelers and I enjoyed hanging with old friends.

By the time it was over, I was ready to move on to the next place where I could enjoy some solitude. Just Kelly and I staying at a relatively empty chunk of southern Arizona desert.

Dear future Marshall, if you end up in Quartzsite next year, something went sideways. Stay strong. Stay away.

Hey Mark! Well, to be fair, the first 3 weeks were 20 miles south off of Palm Canyon Road, which is plenty far outside of the madness that is Q this time of year. But I still had to venture into “town” for groceries, water, propane, etc and that alone was enough to drive a guy insane. The last week was in the heart of the madness and I was over it before I arrived to my final “Q” spot.